Microsoft to start charging for Bing search API

Apr 12, 2012 08:37 pm | IDG News Service
Microsoft will stop offering its API for free, bringing it in line with Google’s practice of charging for access
by Cameron Scott

Microsoft will begin charging developers to use the API (application programming interface) for its Bing search engine, the company announced Thursday.
Developers will pay a minimum monthly subscription fee of US$40, Microsoft said. It will collect the fee through the Windows Azure Marketplace, where the API will be hosted. All users will move to the pay-per-use regime within a few months, it said.

The Bing API allows developers to incorporate Bing search results into their applications. Microsoft said the changes will give them “fresher results, improved relevancy and more opportunities to monetize their usage of the Search API.”

The change will involve “a new API end point, moderate changes to the request and response schemas, and a new security requirement,” Microsoft said.